Broken Compass:Supernatural Prison Story 1(22)

Braxton's shift to dragon had broken our quad connection, but that was okay, I could still sense my brothers. All of us were charging along the path with a bunch of enraged supes and one pissed-off dragon. We pushed past all the smashed cages, heading in one direction and hoping it was the right way. The place was still dark beyond Louis' light, but then more of the magic users sent out their own lights, leaving very little darkness for anybody to hide within.

At the end of this path was a platform, probably where the prisoners were paraded across to be purchased. We smashed through the chairs and up onto the elevated area. Not everyone was going to fit on here; there was at least a hundred of us now, but there was a doorway on the other side. We all kept moving. Louis didn't hesitate, blasting out with his energy and slamming the door open. Lights flooded through the opening, and once I made it through I could see another stage.

With a roar I pushed my way to the front, determined to be the first on the other side. Braxton's dragon came through next. Neither of us waited for the others. We were on a mission.

The light on this side was blinding. It took me ten seconds to adjust and take in the scene. We had stepped into a back area with cement floors and a damp scent. It was small, this area, and appeared to be a lower level. Braxton and I moved as fast as we could toward the other end.

"Shit," I growled.

On the other side of this path was a massive warehouse, which I could tell immediately was a mirror image of the one we'd just left, right down to the elevated stage we were at the back of. The only difference  …  this side of the area was right in the midst of a supe sale.

And Jessa was standing on the stage.

The MC for this event hadn't noticed us yet. He was too busy touting all of Jessa's values.

" … one of the dragon marked  –  still wears the mark even. Was house to an actual dragon and has contacts in Faerie. Believed to be carrying twins, naturally conceived dragons who will hold dominion over the supe races. This is an extra special lot tonight, and there are very few of you here who can afford the price. As you saw before, she is a phenomenal fighter and would make a great member of your personal security. Her sister set a record just before at eighteen rare fey stones. Let's see how much better we can do with this one."   





 

If he said anything more I missed it. There was nothing in my head but white noise and death. Mischa was gone. She had already been sold.

Braxton was moving but I was faster than him. I reached the stage and my hand was around the announcer's throat before he could even blink. Jessa's eyes were huge; so much anger simmered through them I could almost see the liquid fire. She didn't move toward me, her body looked to be frozen in position.

It was then I noticed the hooked staff which the soon-to-be-dead supe was carrying. My fingers flexed around his throat as I reached to wrench it from him. But the moment it touched me I was frozen to the spot.

A voice was suddenly in my head. Well, what do we have here? You think to come into my house and threaten me  …  you're going to make a fine sale item.

Control was gone from my body. I could see, feel, and hear, but movement was beyond me. My vampire lay dormant, under the control of the staff pressed against my chest. The supe, who I was getting a sorcerer vibe from, ripped himself from me and let loose with a chuckle, probably trying to break the tension which had spread across the crowd of dead fuckers down in the audience.

The moment I was freed from here, I was going after every single one of them. This was illegal and completely screwed up. You did not traffic in supes, and since they weren't on Earth, where the laws of supernaturals stated that all get a trial and end up in prison, I could easily kill them and face no consequences.

In The Great Divide, you do the crime, you get your head ripped off.

The quad bond flared to life then. Jacob and Tyson were on the stage with us now. Braxton, who had been a little slower due to a bunch of guards attacking him, was close by. I could see from the corner of my eye a multitude of body parts scattered around him. Those guards hadn't stood a chance against the might of a dragon claw.

As Braxton reached my side, our quad bond settled in strongly, and with the swell of my power control returned to my body. The dragon magic, which weaved through all of us, was circumventing the staffs control.

I wasted no time. I smashed the staff-wielder in the jaw  –  a magic user, and not even a particularly strong one. In the same movement I yanked the staff right out of his hands. The moment I did, the moment I held it, ancient power ripped across me and it was only the strength of my brothers that kept me from losing my mind completely.

Knowledge rushed through me and I understood now what I held. The staff of Gradiella. This was an ancient and lost magical object. How had this low-level wizard gained control of it?

Once the power of the staff was in my hands, everything else fell into place. The supes who had followed us from the other storeroom rounded up everyone involved in the trafficking ring, all the old and powerful males and females here to buy and sell slaves or obtain race members to use for potions and curses. Not to mention those who just enjoyed torture and sick perversions.

They were all going to die.

Walking along the row of them, each on their knees, waiting for our verdict, I used the staff's power. One by one I touched it to them, and the moment I did I could see into their minds. I could see the truth.

A few moments later, I returned to the stage. "They're all guilty."

I didn't look away as the previously caged supes roared and then swiftly delivered justice in its most brutal form. The power of the staff kept those sentenced to death locked down long enough for them to have no chance at fighting back. Their deaths freed all purchased supernaturals, they emerged from the shadows, magically binding cuffs falling from their bodies.

I ached to see Mischa step free from the wings, but there was no sign of her at all.

"Justice is served," Louis said.

For the most part it was, but this ring went so much deeper  …  things I'd seen in their minds. I crossed to Louis and in a hurried few sentences filled him in on what I'd found in the minds of the depraved.

"They meet up monthly for these auctions. It has been going on for many years. The ones we just sentenced to death were all regular clientele, although a few are missing today. If we search their properties we'll find many missing supes."

I knew where each of them kept their slaves. I'd seen it all in the dark depths of their minds. Louis wove some magic around my words so that he could listen to them again at any time for reference. There was a lot of information involved.

"I'll call on the councils," he said, grimly. "We'll track each and every single one of them. Now that I have the magic essence of those fairytale portals, I can make sure they're all destroyed."

It didn't seem like enough, but at least we had a place to start unraveling this all. "Where did they get this staff from?" I held it out, before almost dropping it when it started to shrink. Eventually it was nothing more than a stick which I could easily slip in my back pocket. I would keep it for now, until we figured out what to do with it.   





 

Louis shook his head. "I don't know. The Staff of Gradiella has not been part of our history for a long time. I heard it ended up in the demon realm, but if that's the case, how did it fall into these hands?"

Great question. Also a scary one. I'd never known a supe to mess with demon energy. It was too easy to lose yourself to the darkness. Once you were demon touched, it was next to impossible to come back.

"It's probably why the smuggling took place here," Tyson said as he came up to our side. "The demons are benefitting from this somehow, stealing the energy, or maybe taking a cut of the purchase price."

Made sense. Demons loved power and energy. Always looking for a way to break out of this dimension and destroy the other realms.

There was movement on the stage as Jessa slammed her fist into the face of the staff wielder. He was the only one still alive; we needed him to tell us where Mischa was, who had purchased her. My fear was barely contained. I couldn't believe I'd missed her by seconds. Seconds.

Braxton was at Jessa's side, back in human form. I was pretty sure he hadn't taken his hands off her for even a moment since finding her here. I could see the pain and desperation bleeding across his features. He'd been in warrior mode before, but now that he had her, he was about to shatter apart.

I knew. I understood. My heart soared to see that Jessa was okay, but Mischa was still missing.

"It was Kristoff," Jessa said to me when I crossed to her. "He purchased Mischa and then disappeared in a rush. He was completely whacked out, worse than I've ever seen him, and according to this little slimeball … " She kicked the magic user on the floor. "He's one of the organizers of this smuggling circuit."

Goddamn it. This was bad. I needed to get to Mischa now, because that sorcerer was going to make her suffer. Anything to punish our pack. He hated the fact we had "stolen" his power and position on the council.

In a fit of rage I dropped my head back and a roar ripped from deep in my chest. I couldn't stand the thought that Mischa was in his hands. We had to get her back. There was no other option.